BRWN GRL Wellness Studio is changing the way its clients think about self-care.
Necessity is the mother of invention, and that couldn’t be more true than with the new BRWN GRL Wellness Studio in Bala Cynwyd. Nakea Murray — who owns VTOX Intimate Health & Wellness, also in Bala Cynwyd — came up with the idea for the spa as a way to work with and help out colleague Kellie Greene, owner of Main Line Mobile Massage, who was looking for a brick-and-mortar space.
Initially, the idea was to start a woman-focused spa. But as the concept took shape, it turned into something more ambitious: a collective made up of a variety of wellness service providers of color, all practicing in a collaborative studio.
While all clients are welcome, the spa’s focus is on reframing perceptions of self-care, particularly for people who don’t necessarily seek it out. Oftentimes, Murray explains, women of color — particularly Gen Xers and baby boomers — don’t see spa treatments as necessary. “They were kind of taught to work, to muscle through, raise kids,” she says. “Self-care was pretty much nonexistent, or conflated with grooming and hygiene, meaning, ‘I go get my hair done every two weeks.’”…